Triple valve



(No Model.) 2 sheets-sheen 1. A. S. LASLEY.

TRIPLE VALVE.

88mm I Hmmm l 1' Marrav @rares Anson s. LAsLEY, or CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

TRIPLE VALVE.

C'PEGIFIQATIQN forming part of Letters Patent No. 307,122, dated October28, 188%.

Application filed April :'35'l 1884. (No model.)

To @ZZ whom it may concern.'

Beit known that I, ANsoN S. LAsLEY, a citizen of the United States,residing in Chicago, county of Cook, and State of Illinois, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvement-s in Triple Valves,77 ofwhich the following is a specification;

This invention relates to improvements in triple valves` the primaryparts of which-are a piston and a slidelvalve,which valves can be usedin connection with hydraulic, air, or gas engines, or other mechanismsor apparatus to which said valves are adapted, but which valves are moreparticularly hereinafter described in their, application to air-brakesfor railroadcars, in which brakesa triple valver is em*- ployed forestablishing a communication vbetween the air supply pipe leadingfromlthe main air-reservoir on the engine and the auX- iliary airreservoir on the car, and also between the auxiliary reservoir and thebrake cylinder, for the purpose of automatically operating the brake.

Prior to my invention the air receiving chamber extending below thepiston-chamber, and connecting therewith by a perforation in the bottomof the pistonchamber, has had its lower end closed by a plug havingformed therewith a tube inclosinga spiral spring sur- 'rounding a rodprojecting through a central perforation in the bottom of thepiston-cham` ber, and for cushioning the piston in its descent, ahammering blow of the piston being prevented by a leather washer laid onthe bottom of the pistonchamber. The piston of these valves is providedwith a packing consisting of a flexible metallic ring cut through on oneside and working by a spring action against the piston-chamber in acircumferential groove on the piston, and the piston-rod, which alsocarries the slide -valve, extends above the latter, and has a bearing inthe screw cap of the valve shell, for staying the piston andslide-valveagainst a lateral or rockingmovement, in which respect aspring in an open recess in the slide-valve and bearing against the rodis employed as an auxiliary, as well as to prevent the slide-valve fromworking by gravityalone. l

From the above description it will be seen that in the constructionreferred to a full stroke not as an automatic air-brake.

of the piston involves a violent contact with the'bottom of thepiston-chamber, which contact sooner or later strains and otherwiseinjures the piston and disturbs the stability of the slide-valve.Besides this, a slight accumulation of ice inthe bottom of the air-:receiving chamber is sufficient to destroy the operation of the spring-cushion, the tubes and spring of which,`.the pack-ing in thepiston, and the recesses and openings in the slidevalve are catch-allefor dirt and other obstructing substances, and ,besides, are liable tofreeze up even before thespring-cushion, or, at least,

.to become so nearly so as to render their op` eration uncertain or soslow that the valve will not effectively operate, and must therefore becut off from the auxiliary air-cylinder, and the brake be operated as anordinary and A tri ple Avalve to successfully and automatically operate'an air-brake must of necessity respond quickly to any variation in theai r-pressure employed to operate it, and must have all of its partspositive in their operation, and adapted to quickly relieve thebrake-cylinderpiston from air-pressu re the instant it is desirable tounset the brake, and, above all, to avoid as nearly as possible anyliability of any of the operative parts of the valve from freezing, orof being retarded in their movements by an accumulation of foreignsubstances.

The objects of my invention are therefore to promote the efiiciency of atriple valve by having its operative parts so constructed thatunavoidable accumulations, whether of ice, dirt, or other substances,may be conveniently and quickly removed before they have materiallyobstructed any of the movable part-s of the valve. A further object isto dispense entirely with any necessity of a sprngcushion for the`piston or a washer to take up its striking force, and at the same timeavoid the necessity of employing devices affording a receptacle forforeign substances or liable to freeze and by either of these meansretard or destroy. the operation Vof the piston.4 A further object is toprovide a slide-valve adapted without injury to itself toltake up anotherwise striking force of the piston. y A further object is toestablish an equilibrium of airpressure on both ends of theslide-valvewhen' IOO upon its seat, and thereby not only relieveitsactuating-spring from any strain by the airpressure, but at the sametime insure an effeet-ive seating of the valve under every degree ofair-pressure to which it may be subjected when in operation. A furtherobject of my invention is to center the slide-valve and piston in suchamannerthattheair-pressure in the'valve-chamber will exert a forcetending to relieve the valve and its centering device from a liabilityto stick either` from freezing'or from foreign substances. A furtherobject is to provide a convenient means for adjusting the valve,whichmeans, together with the valve, shall be convenient of access. A furtherobject is to provide means whereby the exhaust-port in the triple valvefor the` brake-cylinder may have a diameter equal4 to that oftheair-supply ports or passages, or at least such a diameter that the airmay be so quickly exhausted from the brake-cylinder that the brake maybe as instantly released as the slide-valve islifted off its seat; and,finally, to provide certain details of construction hereinafter fullydescribed. I attain these objects by devices illustrated in theaccompanying drawings, in which- Figure l is a central longitudinalsection of a triple valve embodying my invention, said section beingtaken on the line x .fr of Fig. 2. Fig. 2 is a transverse section of thesame, tak en on the line y y of Fig. 1; Fig. 3, a transverse section oftheslide-valve and its bearing-shaft, taken 4on the line z z, Fig. l;Fig. 4, asection of the cut-off plug turned to cut off the 'triplevalve.

Similarletters of reference indicate the same parts in the severalfigures of the drawings.

The valve-case is preferably made in two parts, A B, the upper part, A,being provided with an annular flange, a, projecting into the lowerpart, B, a suitable packing, b, serving in connection with the iiange toform a tight joint between the case-sections, which are additionallyprovided with laterally-projecting iianges c, (see Fig. 2,) throughperforations in which bolts are passed for clamping said sectionsrigidly but removably together.`

Formed in the case-section A is an air-supply passage, C, a continuationof which is formed in case-section B, into which `the passage opens,said passage being connected by a pipe, d, when the valve is in use,with the brake-valve (not shown) and the main reservoir (not shown) onthe engine. Case-section B forms a chamber, D, for conveniencedesignated as a .supplychamber,77 which chamber is separated from thepistonchamber E by a perforated diaphragm, F, which is seated upon ashoulder on section B and held in'its seat by the iange a on the sectionA. This perforated diaphragm serves to strain the air escaping throughit into the piston-chamber, and therebyprevent dirt and other foreignsubstances escaping from the supply-chamber into the piston-chamber, andthence to the bearing-surfaces and passages of the valvestructure; and,besides, this perforated diaphragm permits condensations, lubricants,&c., to escape from the upper part of the valve structure-to the bottomof the supplychamber. The supply-chamber is preferably of a straightcylindrical form, and has its bottom end closed by a screw-cap, G, that,when removed, provides for the largest possible access to the chamberfor removing accumulations, and particularly ice, which latter, if itfails to drop outV by its own gravity, can be quickly and readily brokenup-an operation not practical when such a chamber is only accessiblethrough an orifice suitable for a plug, as in the structures nowcommonly employed.' Piston-chamber F has on one side, near its top, agroove, H, bisecting at its upper end with an eduction-passage, H,connected with an auxiliary reservoir (not shown) upon the car, to whichthe triple valve and brake-cylinder, hereinafter referred to, areattached by a pipe, e, tapped in said passage. The piston I is providedwith a peripheral groove for receiving a packing, f, which is preferablycomposed of a solid filling of solder, but may be.

of any metallic substance which is desirable, but at the same timesofter than brass, of which the piston and the inner walls of thepiston-chamber, if not the entire case, are preferably composed.Metallic packing is desir able because less liable to tightly freeze orto be injured if thrown into operation when frozen, and, besides, doesnot gather upon its surface foreign substances, which would increase thefriction and wear of both the piston and its bearing-surface. Piston Ihas cast with or otherwise rigidly secured upon its upper surface aninclined check-valve, J, the seat of which is formed in the top of thecase and IOC similarly inclined, and the stem g projects into a verticaleduction-passage, K, in the case, said stem being provided with agroove, h, running out the upper end thereof, the purpose of whichgroove will hereinafter be described. Passage K affords a communicationof the piston-chamber with a slide-valve chamber, L, in the upper end ofthe case, and bisectsa passage, M, continued by a pipe, t, leading tothe brake-cylinder, (not showm) and also an escape-passage, N, which isin a plane slightly above the said passage M. The valvechamber Lhas itsupper end closed by ascrewcap, O, secure in position like the cap G, and

forming the entire top of the valve-chamber,

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ling the shaft, but an internal air-chamber for the valve, which chamberis extended above the base of the conewby an annulus, n, provided withperforations o, affordingaeommunication between the air-chamber l andthe valve-chamber, andthe bottom fof-chamber is provided with radialslots n', opening into the chamber below the valve. Spring m seats atits lower end on the bottom of the air-cham ber of the slide-valve, andat its upper end bears against a disk, Q, tapped*andverticallyadjustable on the shaft Q, for adjusting the tension of the spring, andwith itv the pressure of the valve on its seat. In this connection itmay be observed that by seating the spring well down toward the bottomof the valve, as shown, the operation of the spring is, for obviousreasons, more effective, while atthe same time apositive and accurateseating ot the valve is attained, and the friction ofthe valve reducedto a minimum. disk Q is provided with perforations p, the purpose ofwhich will hereinafter be described, and has a Vfree bearing against thestraight walls of the valve-chamber, and serves not only to center theslide-valve, but also the check-valve and thepiston. 1vVith the parts inthe position shown in Fig. 1,-.in which the' piston iselevated above thelower end of the groove H, the check-valve is seated, and theslide-valve is raised above its seat, air iowing through thesupply-passage C into the chamber D, and, passing through theperforate'd diaphragm into the piston-chamber, will enter the groove H,and pass thence through passage'H to the auxiliary reservoir, which may,for present purposes, be supposed to be iilled and under pressure by theair entering the valve through the supply passage. It', now, thepressure in thek supply-passage be reduced, the back-pressure of air inthe auxiliary reservoir upon the piston will press the piston down belowthe groove H,Aand at thesame time lower the check-valve away from itsseat until the groove L in its steln establishes a communication betweenthe upper part of the piston-cylinder and passage M, just before whichthe slide-valve is fully seated and the air immediately flows out of theauxiliary reservoir through passage H', K, and M to the brake-cylinderand sets the brake.V As air enters passage M, it also flows throughslots n in the slide-valve into the chamber-thereof, and ont its top,and through the perforations p in the centering-disk to the upper partof the valve-chamber; but-as the the perfor-ations o in said ange to theperforations in the disk. This accumulation of air above the slide-valveand centering-disk establishes an equilibrium of air-pressure on Thebothof their respective faces, and secures an effective seating of the valveagainst a pressure otherwise tending to lift it, while ,also relievingthe spring from undue strain and from having a tension greater than isrequired for its normal purposes; and in this connection it should bestated that the spring, in 4addition to actuating and cushioning theslide-valve, also affords a spring-resistance for both the check-valveand piston, tendingto check their lfallafter the slide-valve is seated,and thereby prevents a hammer-blow of the centering d isk on saidvalve.

Vhen it is desired to unset the brake, airpressure is again admittedthrough the supply-passage G to the piston, which it forces upwardly,and with it the groove 7L, which, as soon as it passes the lower endofthe straight wall vof the passage K, .cuts off t-he supply of aiutothe passage M, at which moment the slide-valve is lifted off its seatand the air in the brake-cylinder returns bac-k through passage M andescapes from the triple valve through the escape-passage N.

The general constructiontof my triple valve and the arrangement ot'itsseveral passages and -movable parts is such that ample room andprovision are made for having the exhaustport N of substantially thesaine diameteras the passages, and in any case of a suiiicient diameterto permit the air in the brake-cylinder to quickly escape, and hence thebrake to be instantly released, and the usually prolonged hissing noiseof the escaping air obviated. It' desirable, however, this exhaustportmaybe screw-threaded, as shown, and be contracted by means of a nipple,R, having a bore of any preferred diameter. Theexhaustport .may beformed in the same plane with the passage M 5 but it is preferablyraised above that plane in order to have as direct an exitpassage forthe a'ir as is possible and consistent with the desired dimensions andconfigurations of other parts and an effective closing of said `port bythe slide-valve.

Fitting and turning `in the valve-case is a cut-off plug, S, (see Figs.2 and 4,) which is of the common and well-known constructionthat is tosay, is bored out -at q and grooved at r, to register, respectively,with passages M "and C, -which passage'G, by turning the plug andcutting ont the passages M and the lower portion ot" passage C, andhence the triple valve, (see Fig. 4,) may be made to register with anddirectly `join the upper part of passage@ with the upper end of passageM, whereby the brake-cylinder nia-y be operated by a direct air-pressurefrom the main reservoir when for any cause the triple valve is not inworking order. rIhis plug is provided with the usual conical stern T forthe application of a wrench to turn it, and also a spring, U, forholding it against its seat.

In conclusion, it should be observed that it would be no departure fromthe spirit of my invention to employ a widely-different c011- IOO IIO

struction of slide-valve in connection with the piston and check valveherein shown and described, or viceversa; and, furthermore, a triplevalve may be made With the relative position and configuration of theseveral passages and grooves changed, and yet embody the essentialfeatures of the invention herein involved.

Having described my invention, what I claim, and desire to secure byLetters Patent, 1s-

1. In a triple valve, a cylindrical air-supply chamber utilizing` andexclusively occupying the entire lower end of the valve-case below andcontiguous to the piston-chamber, and having its lower end closed by acap of a diameter equal to, if not greater than, that of said chamber,whereby the operative parts of the valve are wholly isolated from theaccumulations, which, collecting in said chamber, are removable in amass from the valve, substantially as and for the purpose described.

2. In a triple valve, the combination of the contiguous and straightcylindrical air-supply and piston chambers with a diaphragm providedwith a series of perforations, and eX- tending entirely across andwholly dividing said chambers, substantially as described.

3. In a triple valve, the combination of the air-suppl y chamberprovided with a shoulder, and the straight cylindrical piston-chamberprovided with a vertically-projecting ilange, with a diaphragm extendingentirely across the piston-chamber, and provided with a series' of'perforations over its entire surface,V

' and for the purpose described.

the piston, and the eduction-passage in the end wall of said chamberabove the piston, with a check-valve tightly seating against said endwall and cutting off all communication between the eduction-passage andthe piston-chamber, substantially as described.

7. The combination of the piston and the slide-valve with the stem andshaft connecting said valve and piston, and a groove, h, in said stem,substantially as described.

8. rIhe combination of the piston andthe slide-valve with the stemandashaft provided with a grooved channel extending from its upper endpart way its length, said shaft and stem forming amconnection ofthepiston with the slide-valve, substantially as described.

9. In atriple valve, a slide-valve provided with an internal air-chamberhaving inlet and outlet perforations or slots at or toward theextremities of said internal chamber, substantially as and for thepurpose described.

10. The combination of the piston, the piston-chamber, and a chamberexternal thereto .and having a common center therewith, with acentering-disk bearing against the walls of the external chamber, and arigid connection between said disk and piston, substantially asdescribed.

l1. The combination of the slide-valve, the chamber, and thebearing-shaft thereof with 'a centering-disk mounted on said shaft,bearing against the Walls of said chamber-,and perforated, substantiallyas and for the purpose described.

l2. The combination of the slide-valve, the chamber, and thebearing-shaft thereof with a centering-disk mounted on lsaid shaft andbearing against the walls of said chamber, substantially as described.

13. The combination of the slide-valve, the bearing-shaft thereof, andthe centering-disk, adjustable on said shaft, with aspring confinedbetween said disk and valve, substantially as and for the purposedescribed.

14. The combination of the passage M and the escape-passage in a planeabove the passage M with a slide-valve intermediate said passage andadapted to close the escape-passage, substantially as described.

l5. In a triple valve, a cone-shaped slidevalve chamber having straightcylindrical walls extending above and of greater diameter than thevalve, in combination with a cap of a diameter equal to or greater thansaid. straight walls, and `closing the end of said chamber,substantially as and for the purpose described.

ANSON S. LASLEY. Witnesses:

JN0. G. ELLIOTT, NV. YV. ELLIOTT.

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